Lock Park — located on the corner of Ryan and 7th streets — is on its way to being transformed into the city’s first playground focused on a fully inclusive experience for children of all abilities to enjoy.

The completion of the $567,000 reconstruction of the park’s 100-year-old pavilion and restroom structure was celebrated Thursday — just a day prior to the 2025 Merchants’ Parade, which travels down Ryan Street, past Lock Park and is the official kickoff of the Mardi Gras celebration in Lake Charles. The pavilion, which is bookended by bathrooms, had to be taken down and rebuilt after sustaining irreparable damages during Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020.

Trenton Mays, an architectural associate with the Randy Goodloe firm, said it was an honor to be part of the reconstruction project.

“There was an opportunity after the hurricane to upgrade the facility and make it more accessible,” Mays said, noting the restrooms are now compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act codes. “A lot of structural upgrades were also made to make sure the pavilion can withstand any storm in the future.”

Though the rebuilt pavilion design is the same, it is now has ramps, hand rails and wider bathroom layouts.

Mays said with Lock Park being the center point of the Mardi Gras parade routes, he’s excited for the pavilion and the green space around it to be used by local revelers over the next few days.

The next phase of Lock Park’s redesign will be reimagining the playground area.

Michael Castille, director of community services for the city, said $1.75 million has been set aside from the passage of the LC Rebound bond proposal in November 2023 to fund the first phase of construction. He said the park will have an expanded footprint, which will allow for more built-in accessible structures, as well as fencing surrounding the park.

The goal of an inclusive playground is simple: include everyone, he said.

“We’re making sure the swing sets are inclusive, the merry-go-rounds are inclusive, the platforms that elevate the play structures have ramps,” he said. “We want people to come here and not see what they can’t do but to know they can do everything.”

Families Helping Families Executive Director Susan Riehn, who is also president of the Mayor’s Commission on Disabilities, said her office has given the city ideas for structures that would appeal to both children and adults with disabilities.

“We want to make sure they’re safe, they’re included and they can play in the community with everybody else,” Riehn said.

Families for Inclusion Founder and Executive Director Julia Bourgeois has reached out to parents within her group to ask what they would like to see in the playground and has shared those ideas with the city.

“One of the things that caught my eye in the renderings is a double swing for wheelchairs,” Bourgeois said. “My son, specifically, has a friend who is in wheels that is the same age as him and now they can come to the park and play together and do the same things together.”

Bourgeois said she is seeing a “huge movement” within Southwest Louisiana in which groups are reaching out to Families for Inclusion before projects are designed to make sure accessibility needs are met.

“It seems like in our community, specifically, people are starting to realize how they can be more inclusive and accessible from the beginning versus being an afterthought and that’s definitely been our biggest goal in the disability community,” she said.

Castille said additional design phases will include an additional parking area, a walking trail throughout the park and the renovation of the caretaker’s cottage will become the new home for Families for Inclusion and the Children’s Miracle Network.